L'Porm Sonas

This antique scroll is believed to depict the First Mother in her final, bellicose form. The accredited researcher spent many seasons living with a remote and primal band of Manidae, intent on earning their trust, and thereby gleaning insights normally withheld from outsiders. The discovery of the mural was considered a break-through, and the runes are thought to belong to the lost Enochian language. Hidden in the rank crypt, the interloping scribe took what notes they could, before fleeing from the outraged sect of worshipers. Upon her return, the haunted scholar faithfully recreated on parchment what they had seen depicted on the rotting walls of the ancestral, cavernous abode, before finally succumbing to a withering sickness. Academics have since been unable, or perhaps, unwilling, to attempt to locate this primordial sect again.

One of the eldest demi-gods, her origins date back to the first forays into tech-based godhood. Her moniker is drawn from her occupation as a geneticist, participating in the creation of her fellow Deumana. It was these beings that pioneered the organic machinery that sped their celestial development, combining cutting edge methods with resurrected techniques formerly thought lost amongst coded, alchemical texts.

Sonas' fascination with dead civilizations is apparent, and surely served as inspiration for her works. She enhanced herself with prosthetics, cosmetic surgeries, bio-engineered implants, and later still, cloning, as the gestalt bodies fell under the strain of repeated modification. She trialed her techniques on others, and for every creature on Lume she ushered into existence, countless others died as the pitiless innovator refined her methods. Records indicate that even other creator Deumana, such as At'lover Atir and A'tak Taal, considered her methods distasteful at the time, though their own works stem from her discoveries.

The peak of her dominion was in the pioneering era, when L'Porm's field of study was new, and her techniques revolutionary. By the time of consolidated Deumana rule, her approach had fallen from favor. Younger Deumana with new ideas no longer looked to her for guidance or example. Her once formidable mind degrading over the countless cycles, L'Porm Sonas grew increasingly paranoid of assassination attempts by her peers. In her final seasons, she lived in a manner more closely resembling a predatory beast, dwelling in caverns near their ancient laboratory stronghold, all but abandoned until the threat of the Great Schism spurred on with renewed purpose. L'Porm summoned her followers, and allowed her former protege, Vesselen Ukin, to enhance her deteriorating physique for war. She was among the first to meet the Frost Giants and their allies in battle, and has the honour of being the first Deumana to fall. Even her death set a precedent.

It's believed theManidae were her creatures, and this could explain why they went undiscovered for so long, having had little to do with other serf Races. What is known about her comes from the oldest Library texts, or was found inscribed on walls in the labyrinthine, excavated homes of ancestral Manidae, where, following her death, her worship was usurped by the new, ruling caste of administrative Manidae.

Though erased from many records by jealous and vain competitors, her lasting impact can be found in the darker regions of Lume. The clandestine factions that still worship the fallen Deumana, and wish for their return, use her name in place of a revolutionary hero of the Schism, A'tak Taal, when they measure their days. Thus Di'Sonas replaces Di'Taal as the first day of each Cycle. Life is subjective; one culture's villain is another's hero.